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Fifth Circuit Upholds Sanctions Against GEO Group Attorneys for Discovery Abuse
by Matt Clarke
On December 12, 2016, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas district court’s sanctions of $1,000 each against lawyers representing GEO Group, the nation’s second-largest private prison operator, after finding they had engaged in discovery abuse.
Lisa Velasquez Olivarez filed a civil …
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More from this issue:
- They Thought They Were Going to Rehab. They Ended up in Chicken Plants, by Amy Julia Harris, Shoshana Walter
- News in Brief
- Florida Guard Gets 21 Months for Attacking Prisoner, Planting Weapon, by Monte McCoin
- OIG Report Slams CoreCivic’s Management of Leavenworth Prison, by Derek Gilna
- $160,000 Settles New Jersey Jail Class Action Suit, by Derek Gilna
- Private Prison CEO Heads Search for United Way Leader
- North Carolina Reforms Solitary Confinement Policies Following Vera Report, by Derek Gilna
- Assaultive Behavior by Michigan Prisoners Subject to Aggressive Prosecution
- Sentencing Project Report Examines Increasing Number of Life Sentences, by Derek Gilna
- New York: Inhumanity in the Guise of Education at Rikers Island Jail, by Christopher Zoukis
- Fifth Circuit Upholds Sanctions Against GEO Group Attorneys for Discovery Abuse, by Matthew Clarke
- $15,000 Settlement in New Mexico Jail Rape Case Based on Polygraph Results, by Matthew Clarke
- Seventh Circuit: Injured Federal Detainee Meets Negligence Standard in Fall from Stool
- West Virginia Prisoner Injured on Work Crew Denied Workers’ Compensation
- Majority of Federal Prisoner’s Settlement Seized for Restitution; Tenth Circuit Affirms
- $950,000 Settles Mistreatment of Mentally Ill Prisoner, by Derek Gilna
- Lawsuit Claims CoreCivic Allowed Corruption and Gangs to Flourish at Oklahoma Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- $10,000 Settles Kansas Suit Over Fall From Upper Bunk
- Florida: Private Prison Company Allowed to Overcharge State, Mistreat Prisoners, by David Reutter
- Michigan’s Macomb County Jail Under Fire for Lack of Medical Care, Deaths, by David Reutter
- Michigan’s New Prison Food Service Provider Failing to Meet Contract Terms, by David Reutter
- $500,000 Settles Illinois Jail Suicide Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- Cook County Strip-search Class-action Claimants to Receive Additional Payments, by Derek Gilna
- Drug Addicts Suffer Preventable Deaths in U.S. Jails, by Christopher Zoukis
- Controversy Surrounds Angola Prison Warden’s Retirement, Indictment of Family Members, by David Reutter
- $840,000 to Wrongfully Terminated Pennsylvania Jail Official
- Montana DOC Agrees to Modification of ADA Class-action Settlement, by Derek Gilna
- California Agency Addresses In-person Visits at Jails after Governor Vetoes Bill, by Lonnie Burton
- New York Times Reveals Racial Bias Rampant in Upstate New York Prisons, by Lonnie Burton
- Eighth Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment Order in Detainee’s Wrongful Death Suit
- $150,000 Settles Colorado Jail Prisoner’s Sexual Assault Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- “Start by Believing” Initiative Creates Controversy, by Matthew Clarke
- Department of Justice Releases Reports on Prison and Jail Deaths, by Matthew Clarke
- Attica Medical Experiments Exposed, by Greg Dober
- $3.6 Million: California Prisoner Killed by Guards, by Matthew Clarke
- $1.23 Million Settles Indiana Jail Conditions Suit, by Derek Gilna
- Report Slams Takeover of Washington DOC Food Services by Correctional Industries, by Lonnie Burton
- Pennsylvania Class-action Targets Company Providing Inaccurate Background Checks, by Derek Gilna
- Arkansas Supreme Court: Religious Freedom Preliminary Injunction Requires Hearing
- Seventh Circuit: Court Erred in Dismissing Prisoner’s Suit for Failure to Include Trust Account Ledger, by Matthew Clarke
- Solitary to the Streets: Studies Find Such Releases Result in Higher Recidivism Rates, Violent Behavior, by Lonnie Burton
- Palestinian Prisoners Stage Hunger Strike, by Christopher Zoukis
- National Registry of Exonerations Report: Blacks Suffer More False Convictions, by Derek Gilna
- $8.4 Million Judgment in Defamation Suit, by Christopher Zoukis
- Utah Settles Federal Suit Alleging Delays in Competency Treatment for Pre-trial Detainees, by Derek Gilna
- New York State Prisoner’s Administrative Charges Dismissed, by Derek Gilna
- Federal Correctional Complex at the Center of City’s Water Debacle, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Multiple Lawsuits Allege “Slave Labor” Under Guise of Drug Treatment, by Derek Gilna
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit Upholds $33 Million Jury Award in Suit Over Detainee’s Horrific Death in Oklahoma County Jail, July 1, 2026
- Texas Prison System Bans Prisoners from Receiving Hardback and Used Books, July 1, 2026
- CoreCivic’s Long Record of Abuse and Neglect in Tennessee, June 1, 2026
- Dallas County Jail Deaths, Many Preventable, Dramatically Increase Under Sheriff Marian Brown, June 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Lets Stand Ruling That Federal Prisoners’ Gradually Accumulated Savings Are Subject to Restitution Turnover, June 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Lawsuit Against Prison Dental Staff, June 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- SCOTUS Shuts Down GEO Group Bid for Immunity in Suit by Colorado ICE Detainees, July 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Labor, Sovereign Immunity, Interlocutory Appeals, Immigration Detention.
- After Spoliation Sanction, CoreCivic Settles Suit Over Suicide in New Mexico ICE Lockup, July 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Discovery, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Ohio Supreme Court Rules that Sheriff Did Not Violate Open Records Act and Declines to Award Damages to Prisoner, June 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- Prison Profiteer The GEO Group Accused of Refusing Health Inspections at Detention Facility Despite Court Ruling, June 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Food, Water, Injunctions, Immigration Detention.
- Missouri Judge Heavily Sanctions DOC for “Deliberate Disregard for the Authority of This Court” in Suit Over Prisoner’s Suicide, March 1, 2026. Discovery, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Private Prison Firm GEO Group Reports Record $254 Million Profit After New ICE Contracts, March 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Systemic Medical Neglect, Immigration Detention.
- Fifth Circuit Remands Louisiana Detainee’s Medical Grievance Case, Nov. 1, 2025. Systemic Medical Neglect, Summary Judgment, Discovery, Pro Se Issues, Grounds for Relief, Deliberate Indifference.
- Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Gave Massive Handouts to ICE and Private Prison Industry, Aug. 1, 2025. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Immigration.
- Trump’s “Border Czar” Was on GEO Group Payroll, July 15, 2025. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Misconduct/Corruption, Detention - Generally.
- Ninth Circuit: No Exception to Due Diligence in Discovery Even for “Conclusive Evidence”, April 1, 2025. Discovery, Suppression of Evidence.

